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A Hucknall man will run the length of Wales raising money for specialist blankets at Nottingham's hospitals allowing parents to cuddle their babies with jaundice.

Gethin Edwards' youngest son, Leo, one, was born 12 weeks prematurely and spent 59 days at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Queen's Medical Centre.

Mr Edwards, 27, of Canberra Crescent, thanked staff there saying they were "absolutely amazing", and will run 177 miles to raise money for Biliblankets which will be kept at both neonatal units at the City Hospital and QMC.

Leo spent a day in an UV incubator receiving treatment, and Mr Edwards is raising money for the blankets which act as a portable form of phototherapy.

The blankets will allow parents to hold their children while receiving treatment at the same time, he said.

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Mr Edwards said: "They help babies with jaundice. They have to be in an incubator underneath a UV light and it means parents can't cuddle them. This allows them to have treatment and be able to be held by their parents.

"You have to sit beside them. The blanket will enable you to get them out and give them a cuddle which is so important for the parents and baby."

He will run from Prestatyn to Chepstow from Saturday, October 21, to Wednesday, October 25.

Gethin Edwards with Leo Edwards. (Image: Angela Ward.)

He will run on the first day with friend Alex Ramowski, of Wollaton, who is a parent of a child at Fernwood.

He will race on his own for the second and third day and run with another friend Ashley Starr, from Beeston, on the fourth day before running on the final day with his dad Eurwyn Edwards, 63, from Caernarfon, Wales, and sister Eleanor Tagger, 34, from Cambridge.

His wife Alexandra, 29, and their two sons Leo and Macsen, three, will be supporting him on the fourth and fifth days and Mr Edwards will stay in accommodation each night.

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Mr Edwards said he has been training since last October and has since run the Anglesey Half Marathon, in Wales, the Derby Half Marathon and Robin Hood Half Marathon in Nottingham.

He added: "To staff at the unit I can't say thank you enough - I've run out of superlatives to describe how they look after children.

"Gethin has done incredibly well in gathering a huge amount of people to support the Neonatal Unit, to say thank you for the care his son Leo received there.

"We’re so grateful for their tireless hard work, and wish Geth and his team the very best as they take on their epic challenge this weekend.

"The money they raise will go towards buying specialist medical equipment for the unit, which will make a huge difference to tiny patients and their families.”

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